In the current information age, there are often discussions that proliferation of information technology (IT) can lead to a paperless society and more convenience, efficiency, productivity, enjoyment, etc., in our lives. However, notwithstanding such discussions of a paperless society, there remains a great need by users of computers and other information terminals (that is, any of the various conventional devices which have a need to print on demand, such as personal computers, notebook computers, workstations, other types of computers, kiosks, PDAs, other information appliances, etc.) for printing, scanning, facsimile functionalities and the like. Indeed, the extensive use and development of IT facilities in an enterprise (or other organization) environment has been accompanied by escalating use of printers, scanners, facsimile devices and the like, in such environments.
Therefore, devices having printing or plotting functionality, such as printers, copiers, multi-function devices (having print, scan, copy, facsimile, and other functionality), etc., continue to play a significant role at home and at work. The terms “printer” and “printing device” are used hereinafter generically to include any output device having a printing or plotting functionality, and include multi-function devices (and multi-function printing system) having a copy and/or scanning functionality in addition to the printing or plotting functionality.
Many of the various IT functionalities that can facilitate work flow in an enterprise can be provided by multi function devices in a network multi function printing system. As part of the maintenance of such system, there is typically an ongoing or periodic assessment of cost versus usage and needs for consumables (such as paper, toner, ink, etc.) and system components. In the conventional approach to obtain a full understanding of workflow and print, scan, copy and facsimile (fax) usage, a solutions analyst walks through an enterprise, assessing information management conditions, pulling configuration pages from multi-function or printing devices, noting device volumes for fax and scan devices, and querying individual users and groups as to their scan and print usage.
When such a manual audit of all enterprise devices is concluded, the gathered information is manually entered into a master spreadsheet, to facilitate specific calculations for determining the overall document usage and associated costs. Such information includes, for example, serial number, total black output, total color input, firmware release date, etc.
However, this is a repetitive, time consuming and error prone process that wastes resources. In addition, the manual audit process requires a long time period to complete. The lag of the audit contributes to delay in adjustments in response to inefficiencies in the enterprise network printing system.
An improved approach is needed for gathering and processing audit information from an IT system to allow analysis and optimization of the system and workflow.